


Casa dolce Casa

by nishiki



Series: when the world is burning [3]
Category: Assassin's Creed
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-24
Updated: 2015-02-24
Packaged: 2018-03-14 22:20:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3427640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nishiki/pseuds/nishiki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is the Story of Ezio , a young man travelling to Italy for the first time in his life together with his trusted friend Leonardo just to meet with his Family and finally get to know his bilogical father.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Casa dolce Casa

**Author's Note:**

> this is the very last part of the when the world is burning series! BUT don't forget that I will do comessions/requests for shortstorries for this AU, so just write me a message ^^

Ezio awoke to the sound of screaming. The night hung dark and sinister above the small house and the whole neighborhood when he glanced out the window between the two beds in this small room. He looked at the other bed, just a few feet across the room, which was shared between Connor and Altaїr normally. The light of the streetlamps shone into the room barely enough so he could see Connor's figure lying  on the bed. He appeared to be sleeping. He wore his little jumper his mother got him a few weeks ago from a second-hand shop, the one with the hood and the little bear ears, so those ears were the only visible part of the three-year-old's little head. When Altaїr would lie next to him he would pull the blankets all the way up so the little one was always nearly invisible. Of course Connor could just wiggle higher so he could have his head above the blankets, but instead, he would rather go down, deeper into the warmth of this cocoon and closer to his brother. Altaїr and Connor didn’t get along too well most of the time and it wasn’t always easy sharing a room with them, but when it would come to sleeping they were bosom buddies.

Ezio didn’t always understand why Altaїr would hold a grudge against Connor (longer then he would do with Ezio), but he understood that his big brother was a little jealous. He hadn't liked the news when their mother had told them over three years ago that they would get a little brother or a little sister. Ezio, on the other hand, had loved this although he would always be on Altaїr's side and never on little Connor's when it would come to a fight.

Altaїr wasn’t in his bed and the door to the hallway was ajar. For a moment he hesitated because he knew that he probably didn’t want to see what was happening down there from where the screaming and yelling sounded, but then he crawled out of his bed, his trusted teddy grabbed by one leg and slowly shuffled to the door, left the room and made it to the stairs. After he slowly walked down half of the stairs, the screaming and yelling only got louder (unbearable loud). What about their neighbors? Couldn’t they hear anything? Were they deaf? He stopped and hid behind the handrail. He could see what was happening in the living room from this position well enough without getting spotted himself.

"Let go of her!" Altaїr yelled in a desperate attempt to pull Bill Miles from his mother, who was lying bloody and whimpering on the floor, but Bill didn’t let himself be stopped from the child by his side when he again pushed down his massive fist in their mother's delicate face. She had already given up fighting back. All she did was to try and hide her already bloody face.

"Who do you think you are, you fucking little slut?! Who's child is it this time?!" Bill screamed, his face red in anger when Altaїr grabbed his arm again to pull him back from his mother. Ezio could see his brother bleeding from the mouth. It wouldn’t be the first time Bill had punched out a tooth (at least it was still baby teeth, their mother would say every time that happened). Altar was out of his mind, his short fingernails dug into his stepdad's skin so deep they would leave marks but he had no chance against that man, after all, he was just a child.

"It's yours I swear to god, Bill!" Their mother sobbed and finally Bill had enough of having that little boy pulling at his arm annoyingly like a dirty meat fly. He grabbed Ezio's big brother by the neck and threw him across the room like you would not even do with an aggressive dog and just like Altaїr wouldn’t weigh more than a feather (which he apparently didn’t for Bill). First Altaїr crashed against the handrail of the staircase and Ezio jerked back from the impact, but then his brother's body slumped down to the floor and was on his feet again within seconds and back at Bill's side who finally stood up from the sobbing woman on the ground. He could see how his mother curled herself into a little ball in an attempt to shield her belly. Ezio had no clue what was happening, but he had seen his mother like this before just one time when she had Connor in her belly and when Bill hit her back then.

Instead, Bill lashed out on Altaїr. Ezio was helpless when he had to watch how his big brother got beaten by the big man. It was like the fight David against Goliath, but in this story, David couldn't stand a chance against Goliath. Ezio knew that he could help neither his mother nor his big brother; he was just eight years old! What could he possibly do to help them? Ezio could just sit and watch and he couldn’t even squeeze his eyes shut because he didn’t want to see how Bill kicked his brother in the stomach when he already was laying on the floor. He couldn’t watch and he couldn't look away.

Ezio heard small steps, just this little quiet shuffling behind him on the hallway and when he turned his head he could see Connor, his hood with the little cute bear ears still on his black messy tuft. He was rubbing his sleepy eyes and stifled a yawn. Ezio moved way faster than he expected himself to when he jumped up and run up the stairs. He grabbed the three-year-old boy and picked him up to hurry as fast as he could back to their room, while Altaїr's screams dulled themselves to only a small whimper at the end of the stairs.

* * *

When Ezio was startled from his slumber he immediately blinked against the loud light of the passengers' area. When he had fallen asleep it had been dark around him with the exception of one or two small lights in the ceiling because one of the other passengers still wanted to read something. How long did he sleep?

"Are you okay, Amico Mio?"

Leonardo just turned a page in one of the dozens of books he needed to bring with him on this trip, but his worried eyes now rested on Ezio's face and not on his book, his forehead covered in deep worry lines. "Yeah … I'm alright, just a bad dream." Ezio drove his hands over his face and then ruffled through his long hair that escaped his ponytail fully by now.

"Bill again?"

He smirked mirthlessly. "Always Bill." Ezio was twenty-five years old by now and nearly nine years had passed since he and his brothers started their new lives without beating and fear, without the need to fear his big brother would get beaten to death by their stepfather or to fear for his baby brother's life. By now his baby brother was seventeen and a few weeks from now he would graduate from High-School, but no matter how much time had passed already it still was nearly impossible to get rid of the memories. There were weeks and months when he didn’t even think of it but then there would always be one night in which he would be haunted by a nightmare again or someone would say something that would let Ezio fall back into that pit of terror again and again and again.

Perhaps that was something that would never change. Perhaps he would get tortured for the rest of his life by that, but that was okay with him as long as he had a friend like Leonardo by his side, which could wake him up when his dreams would get too intense and when it would all get just too much to bear.

"Well, at least your timing is perfect for we will land in a few moments now."

For one moment Ezio was confused, but after he managed to again drove his hands over his face and rubbed the sleep from his eyes and had a small look out of the little window to his left, he finally remembered. He could already see the airport of Florence and he could already feel the heat Italy's in the plane. Of course, it was warm in the US now that July already arrived, but it was no comparison to the heat and the sun Italy's. Ezio was quite sure that the warmth in the plane was just a little foretaste of what was waiting outside for them.

Leonardo smiled when he looked at him the next time. "I haven't been here for a very long time." He then confessed. Of course, it was a little bit unusual for a student to be so close to a teacher, especially after he already graduated, but Leonardo was the kind of person which he needed and wanted in his life desperately.

"You were born in Florence, right?"

"No, I was born in Anchiano, but I was raised in Firenze, that's right." Leonardo smirked, knowing that Ezio had already asked him that question numerous times before and that he already answered this question numerous times before. Ezio just needed to distract himself even though he had heard the answer a dozen times by now. He often asked unnecessary things or he asked about his work when he needed to distract himself so he could just listen to him talk instead of thinking.

He was nervous, of course, he was. He hadn't booked a fly to Florence with Leonardo to make a vacation, although he planned on relaxing a little bit and devouring a little culture and shed light on his Italian roots. He planned on cooking for Desmond (and the others that were much pickier than the baby) when he would come home. In the past, he never really thought about this, to be honest. He always knew that his father was Italian and that he moved back to Florence when he found out about his mother's pregnancy, but he never felt the temptation to think about the country and the culture, at least not until he met Leonardo and finally began his studies. Nonetheless, he was now finally here in Florence.

The plane touched down hard and slowly drove towards the terminal. "Let's go toe the hotel first and calm down, Ezio. There is no need to be nervous right now."

Yeah, no reason _right now_ , that was for sure. First, he would leave the plane, then they would go on a hunt for their suitcases and then they would drive to the hotel in which they would stay during the trip. That was what they should do and Leo would take care that things would go exactly like this because Ezio's brain was just filled with the address of the Auditore's by now. He could drive to the address first thing, but it wasn’t right, was it?

He left the plane at Leonardo's side after what felt like an eternity and when they arrived at the baggage carousel Ezio missed his suitcase two times until Leonardo shoved him gently in the ribs when his suitcase appeared for the third time. "Perhaps it really would be better if you visit them first, Ezio." The blonde sighed when they left the airport and stepped out into the warm summer air of Italy. Ezio never _smelled_ warmth ever in his life, but the air of Italy smelled like sun and summer and like pines and cypresses. It smelled familiar and on the same instant strange and foreign.

It was Leonardo who waved for a taxi so they wouldn’t waste their time standing around for Ezio to get used to all those new impressions; after all, it was the first time he left the US. "I promised that we would have a nice quiet day." Ezio replied when the taxi stopped in front of them so Ezio could open the trunk to load their suitcases in, but Leonardo just waved at him dismissively. "Don’t worry about that, Amico Mio. I'll take care of the hotel and when you arrive later you can tell me about your adventure while we have dinner."

Ezio stopped for a moment before he closed the trunk again. Leonardo's face was like always calm and relaxed and his smile trustworthy. In the bright light of the Italian sun, his freckles only were all the more prominent on his light skin and reminded Ezio for just one second of his little brother. "Thanks, Leonardo, what would I be without you?" Ezio smirked before he gently patted his shoulder and opened the door for him.

"You would be helplessly lost in a foreign country." Leonardo laughed when Ezio got into the car after him. It was Leo who told the driver the address of the Auditore's and Ezio didn’t even bother asking why he knew the address or why the man memorized it. It wouldn’t be Leonardo if he wouldn’t know those things.

The leather of the car seats felt pleasantly cool after the torrid heat of Florence. He thought about Connor and how he visited Haytham for the first time in London just a year after he first met his father because his grandpa invited him - Haytham Kenway wouldn’t be Haytham Kenway if he would invite his own son to spend time with him. Back then Connor was extremely nervous and anxious and he was afraid of the flight, but he surely hadn't been as afraid as Ezio was now.

For one year he postponed coming to Florence, but now Leonardo finally made him going with him on this trip. What he had to lose what was Leonardo asked him back then and he was right about it. There was nothing to lose. He was twenty-five years old and he managed his life until now just fine without his father and without that man's _real_ family, so how big could his disappointment really be if he would get rejected by those people? It wouldn’t change a thing in his life. He didn’t want a new family here in Italy and he didn’t expect a thing of Giovanni Auditore. He had a family in Dorchester, that was enough and he wouldn’t leave them for any money in the world.

He was nervous nonetheless.

What if Giovanni had forgotten him after all those years? Ezio didn’t believe his mother would have told him in any way about his birth so perhaps the guy didn’t even know he existed. After all, his mother could’ve aborted him after he simply vanished from her life, couldn’t she? What if he had another dozen illegitimate children running around? What if there were already other bastards before him standing in front of his door in search of money or a bad conscience or revenge in all those years?

"Don’t think about it, old friend, it will be alright, you'll see." Leonardo laid one of his pale hands on Ezio's left thigh and patted him lightly. Of course, Ezio knew that his best friend was gay, but Leonardo had Salai his -on-again-off-again boyfriend and this was why (and because Leo was his best friend) he didn't question his gestures. His own brother and his husband were very much gay but that was no reason to get irritated or uncertain when one of them would hug him or get close to him.

"I can't help it, Leonardo!" Ezio moaned and wrung his hands nervously.

"What could possibly happen that you're so nervous?" He laughed. Of course, Leonardo couldn’t understand or fathom a possible outcome that was so horrible that Ezio could be nervous like this and the younger one just flashed him a skeptical look. "I'm just saying that your life won't change because of this visit, Ezio - Even if he rejects you."

"But what if my life changes?"

What if Giovanni suddenly noticed his fatherly feeling towards his lost son and tried to integrate him into his family? Unlikely. Again a soft laugh from Leonardo - that warm, pleasant, heartfelt laugh that Ezio loved so much by now. He couldn’t help but smile a little himself because he knew how stupid he was behaving in all this and Leonardo had this very gentle way of reminding him of that. He didn’t need more than a look or a small smirk so Ezio would understand and Ezio never felt like he should be angry with the man.

Quite the contrary. In Leonardo's presence, he felt safe and grounded.

Leonardo manages to distract him during the car ride with asking him about his brothers, about Connor who would very much likely come home today to spend summer with his family and about his life in England with Haytham. The truth was Haytham and Connor would've probably killed each other by now if it wasn’t for Grandpa Edward who managed to avoid it until now. He asked about Desmond and Kadar and how they were doing in school and how Altaїr and Malik were doing. Those were things Leonardo knew perfectly well himself first hand, but he asked him nonetheless so Ezio's thoughts couldn’t trail off again to the upcoming meeting with his _other_ family.

"To be honest, I always admired Connor a little for being so brave and traveling to Britain all alone so he could spend time with his dad and get to know him a little better. But I guess the _little one_ always was a little bit braver than I am." Ezio confessed smiling after the car drove through the streets of Florence for a while and after he just watched the landscape and the passing houses.

"Well, I think it is the right time then that you will follow your little brother's example. We're here." Leonardo grinned when the taxi stopped in front of a big house in the middle of the city. _Palazzo_ was what the people in Italy would say to a house like this. On the first look, the building looked pretty much like a hulk. It impressed with his rustic stonecutter structure and it's Roman columns. The façade was discreet with a row of beautiful and elegantly crafted pointed windows and a wide archway that lead into the courtyard of the building and to the main entrance which could be seen from the street. It was quite impressive how good the condition of the building was even after centuries. Of course, Ezio had researched his family's history. Of course, he knew for how long the Palazzo was in the property of the Auditore family. There were even a few banners with the family's insignia hanging on the façade - how you would've done it during renaissance when you were of noble birth.

It was quite funny saying that he was of noble blood even if it wasn’t really true after those centuries that passed and that watered the bloodline. He knew that the Auditore's also had a mansion in a small village called Monteriggioni not far away from Florence, but telling by the news in the Italian yellow press the family rather stayed in the Palazzo of Florence. His family didn’t appear much in the news or the yellow press just like they were really careful with the media and what may be published on their behalf. The Auditore family seemed to be just as reclusive as they were public.

He knew that his younger sister Claudia Auditore was still in college and that she probably would step into her father's shoes and take over the business, but he hadn't found a thing on the internet about his brothers or his father's wife. Well, at least nothing more than their names and gossip.

An impatient harrumph of the driver reminded Ezio of the reality and Leonardo's smile was all it took for Ezio until he finally managed to get out of the car. "We'll see us tonight in the hotel." Leonardo called, but Ezio couldn’t say a thing, so he just nodded and closed the door with a loud thud.

Ezio didn’t move until the taxi drove off and he remained alone in front of the building. What if nobody was home? What if he would meet Maria Auditore right away? What was the address of the hotel again? Wouldn’t it be better to run after Leonardo to spare himself this embarrassment? He didn’t move until he was nearly run over by a speeding Vespa. Again he thought about his little baby brother Connor and how brave he had been back then when he made his trip to England with fourteen for the very first time and how brave he had been when he decided to move to the UK for his studies. But this brave young man was still the very same little boy with a hood with bear ears in Ezio's mind and Ezio - his big brother - still stood here in front of this building and didn’t dare to confront his father like a small child that was afraid. On the other hand … who wasn’t?

That needed to stop. Altaїr wouldn’t be proud of him when he would see how stupid he was behaving. So Ezio straightened his back and stepped through the gate into the courtyard. He noticed a little camera right above the front door (which only could be noticed as a front door for his height, because there were also two other doors leading inside the house on the right and the left side of the courtyard). His fingers pressed the doorbell and he listened to the shrill ringing that filled the house behind the door. It was exactly that moment when he again thought about his conversation with Altaїr one week before he started his trip.

 _"So you're planning on visiting Italy?" Altaїr's eyes suddenly went a little bigger than they usually were and his forehead was covered in thick worry lines when he stopped spreading some photographs out on the kitchen table so he could sort them. Ezio didn't even bother asking what exactly his brother was doing again - he was quite certain the guy knew what he was doing (at least_ sometimes _he knew what he was doing)._

_"Yes." Ezio smirked and leaned back against the fridge and crossed his arms in front of his chest while he watched Altaїr who now turned fully around and sat on the table (and on his photos - **again** ). _

_"Why? What I meant to say is: are you planning on spending your holidays there or…?"_

_"Or."_

_"So you really are going to fly to Florence, right?" So you really are going to search for Giovanni - that was what his brother really meant to ask, but Florence had become their synonym for this man like it was a crime in this house to even mention his name. He nodded and it was the first time that he couldn’t read his brother's face. His eyes were fixated on Ezio's like he was used to by now and Altaїr's look was still piercing, but there was something in his eyes Ezio couldn’t really grasp._

_"What if he doesn't even live there anymore?" Altaїr then asked and also crossed his arms to mirror his brother._

_"I've looked it up; the internet says he still lives there with his family. You know the internet doesn’t lie." Ezio knew that it wasn’t was Altaїr wanted to hear and that it wasn’t what he wanted to ask and slowly, very slowly Ezio had the feeling he could name the feeling in Altaїr's eyes, but Ezio wouldn't dare say it._

_"With his family?"_

_"Yes, with his wife and his children."_

_"So you have siblings." The way he said it made it sound judging and Ezio couldn’t manage to stifle a small grin. Jealousy. Yes, that was it. Altaїr was jealous._

_"Two brothers and one sister."_

_Altaїr stood up again and turned his back to Ezio like he just remembered what he was doing before and started sorting the pictures again, but he just brought chaos to whatever he was doing. "Well you're and adult, so I won't hold you back when you want to travel to Italy so visit that man."_

_Ezio laughed. He really couldn’t help it. "Don’t you worry, Eaglet. You will always be my one and only and all-time favorite Dad."_

And now here he was in front of this huge wooden door and waited that someone would open the door for him - a total stranger - so he could speak to his old man even though Ezio didn’t even know what he was going to say to him or what he should say so he wouldn't get kicked out immediately. Would Giovanni maybe recognize him? Ezio didn’t even know if he resembled his father. Of course, he had seen a family photo on the internet (and it had been way more painful that he was ready to admit), but he was not so very good with pointing out similarities between two people. He knew he looked very similar to Altaїr and Desmond, but only because people kept telling him that his whole life. The closer you are to something the less you really see it.

It seemed like an eternity until there was movement behind the door finally, but then the heavy door was opened and he looked at the face of a young woman. Her skin was sun kissed and just a nuance darker than Ezio's and her hair were so dark it appeared nearly black while it framed her face in thick elegant and soft waves. Claudia Auditore was the most beautiful woman in her blue dress with the small white dots and the red belt and her red pumps and her red-red lips and her fierce and steely look. In reality, she was even more beautiful than on the picture on the internet and even if she was nearly two heads shorter than Ezio, he was quite certain she was a woman he didn't want to mess with. Her dark brown eyes told him so. She knew what she wanted and how to get it and her raised eyebrow told him that his staring would be described as impolite.

"Buongiorno." Claudia finally smiled, but there was no friendliness or warmth in her voice like he was used to from Leonardo. He couldn’t really hold it against her; at least she didn't know who he was.

"Buongiorno." He stuttered. He couldn’t help it and he knew his accent and his pronunciation was awful - Leonardo criticized him for it often, when he taught him Italian. "Please forgive my unannounced visit, Miss Auditore." Maybe it was a little bit blunt to speak English with that woman without asking if it was alright if they would use his mother-tongue instead of hers although they were on her territory.

For a small moment Claudia looked like she wanted to close the door in his face because of his bluntness, but then she stepped back a little and eyed him up (a little impolite even). She looked at him like she tried to memorize his whole appearance and every movement of his face. Her eyes told him much more than her behavior or her words could, but then she crossed her arms in front of her chest and tilted her head to the left side. "You are father's bastard, am I right?" Her English was perfect no matter her thick accent.

Perhaps he should feel offended by her chosen words or at least hurt, but in the end, she was right, wasn’t she? Even though she really could used more friendly words or tried to be more polite to a stranger at her door.

Ezio cleared his throat and shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans so he didn’t need to think about what he was doing with them. "Well, I guess that’s one way to put it." He then began slowly before he pulled his right hand again from his jeans and scratched at his neck a little nervous. "My name is Ezio."

Claudia's expression didn’t melt a tiny bit, not for one second; her face remained stoic while she stood in front of her half-brother and watched him like he was nothing more than a stain on her favorite dress. "I would rather have you call me brother than bastard." It was just a small try to be funny and cute but it didn’t seem to work. No, not with a woman like her.

" _Half-brother_." She corrected and for Ezio it was the very first time in his life that he was called this. Of course, Altaїr, Desmond, and Connor were his _half-brothers_ also, but there had never been a difference between them. They were brothers, they were one and the same, they were flesh and blood and they loved each other unconditionally. He hadn't expected to be welcomed with open arms like the long lost son, but he also hadn't expected to be confronted with coldness like this. Suddenly the term _half-brother_ was way more painful than _Bastard_.

"Whatever you feel more comfortable with." He replied with a small shrug although he wasn’t nearly as calm as he tried to make her think he was. He didn’t question her knowledge of him, but it sparked something inside him - the hope his father might have thought about him and that he might have told his family about him.

"What do you want? If you are here for money then-"

"Nothing like that." Ezio interrupted her with a dark scowl in his face before he forced himself to smile again just a little. "I am here because … Well, I guess because I wanted to meet my father after twenty-five years?" He wasn't driven by anger to Italy and he didn’t felt a grudge against the Auditore-family. Of course, his father could've been a bigger man and at least paid child support which would've made the life of their small family much better, but that was long ago and didn’t matter anymore.

"Well, then I'm sorry to inform you that your eight years late, _Ezio_." She spat his name like vomit when she tilted her chin up stubbornly. "Father died eight years ago."

It really wasn’t that much of a surprise for Ezio because he already thought about that option. In twenty-five years there was a lot that could happen, right? Ezio remained silent for a moment because he didn’t know what he should say or do. Yes, most people would say there was a rug pulled out from under their feet or that their world shattered into pieces, but Ezio couldn't really say he felt like that, no. his world was still whole. His world shattered when he found Altaїr lying in his own blood on the kitchen floor. There was a rug pulled out from under his feet when he found Mr. Miller in Connor's bed. Now he just felt numb and empty.

He ruffled through his hair because he didn’t know what else to do, but Claudia took that from him. "So if you would be so kind and leave our property? Here is nothing for you to take."

Claudia was definitely one of those legendary hot-tempered Italian women, that she showed him with slamming the door into his face like he was nothing else than a dirty beggar before he could even try and mutter an answer. He wanted to scream. He wanted to ring again or beat against the door so the woman would open it again to speak to him. "You cannot drop a bomb like this and leave me out in the rain!" He yelled and his voice sounded from the high walls of the palazzo's courtyard. There was nothing for him to take. Pah. What an obnoxious person! She didn’t even know him and accused him like that!

There was no reaction from inside the house, but he sure as hell hadn't expected anything else from that woman. He couldn’t just go to Leonardo without having done anything. And he couldn’t just fly back home by the end of the week without having accomplished anything with his Italian family like all this never had happened. Didn’t Leonardo put a business card of the hotel in his pocket? Of course, he had. He was Leonardo. He was like Malik who still asked him if he had had breakfast before he went to work. Leonardo probably planned that Ezio would come here first thing after they arrived in Florence and he probably had known Ezio wouldn't be able to find his way to the hotel without the help of this little card. But now he sacrificed the card when he pushed it through the small gap between threshold and door. He didn’t know if Claudia was still on the other side of that door, but he was quite certain that she was there. "If you change your mind and decide to come down from your high horse to speak to a normal person, you find me at that address, sister dear."

Never in his life had Ezio yearned more for his big brother's presence or for Malik's, when he turned his back to the palazzo and searched for a taxi that could bring him to the hotel. At least he remembered the name of the hotel, but he had no hope that Claudia would show nobility in showing up at the hotel. Altaїr would never let himself be shooed away like this without a fight that was for sure. If necessary his brother would've risked a broken foot with bringing his feet between the door and the threshold to get what he wanted. At least his presence would soothe him as well as Leonardo's presence could.

He could consider himself lucky to have a friend like Leo who stood by his side even back then when they were still teacher and student. No matter what it was that Ezio had on his mind he always could tell him in all those years even with the things he couldn't tell Altaїr or Malik. Leo was always cheerful and calm and that was something Ezio revelled in.

He needed half an hour from the Palazzo Auditore to the hotel. Leonardo was an artist and a teacher (although he took a Sabbath-year) and Ezio had just finished his studies. They both hadn't much money so they shared a room for the next days. Ezio still remembered very vividly how nervous Leonardo had been when he confessed to Ezio that he was gay and how surprised he had been when Ezio replied his big brother was too - that was shortly before the whole ordeal with the youth welfare office. Leonardo was relieved back then that Ezio held no grudge against homosexuals even though he was just his teacher, but Ezio knew Leonardo was still nervous even after eight years into their friendship when there were situations like this when they needed to share a bed and a bathroom or when Ezio would run around half naked. It was quite funny how red his ears grew and how pink his cheeks when Leonardo tried to look absolutely everywhere but to him so his looks wouldn’t get misinterpreted.

Most people that know about Ezio's situation thought that it was weird that he didn’t give a fuck if a gay man would see him half or fully naked, but those were dumb people. Of course, in the beginning, it was quite weird when he left the shower and was confronted with Malik who was just brushing his teeth, but then he got used to it and so it was with Leonardo. He was family.

And family it was what Ezio needed like oxygen, so he knocked at their door after he inquired the room number at the reception desk and waited for Leonardo to open and hopefully hugging him. Of course, he could've used his own keycard which he got at the reception, but he wanted Leo to open the door for him to greet him at the door. He was sometimes childish like this and sometimes he just needed the care and a little cuddling. Sometimes he really missed Desmond, but not that _giant_ he was now, but the adorable little Desmond who never left his side for days in the hospital just because he thought Ezio would get better sooner when he cuddled with him. Maybe he wasn’t wrong with that.

A long and painful moment later Leonardo found the mercy to open the door and when he did he was far off from his usual cheerful self. His face was an angry grimace, his eyes red (did he cry or did he experiment with something again?) and his blonde hair was ruffled and messy. He seemed surprised to see Ezio like he expected to see someone else. Room service maybe?

For Ezio, this small moment of seeing his best friend like this was enough to forget his own worries and anger. "Leonardo, what happened?" it escaped the half Italian boy quickly before he shoved him gently aside and entered the room like he was ready to fight a monster or to shoo away some pervert. If he had a sword this would be the moment to unsheathe it. But the room stared back at him innocently. There was just a large double bed on the right side of the room, a television opposite of the bed, a small drawer underneath a window, a closet next to the door, the door to the small balcony (closed) and the open door to the bathroom. No monster, no pervert, no one who could've put Leonardo in a flurry.

Behind him, there was a small sigh and then a soft chuckle. "It's all right oh noble Sir Ezio." Leonardo smirked when he closed the door and stepped around his knight in shining armor to enter the bathroom. Surely he wanted to take a shower after the long flight exactly like Ezio and that he hadn't done it by now just told him that something happened in the meantime so he followed his friend without even thinking about it.

"You cried. You can't fool me, old friend." Ezio grumbled with crossed arms and a gloomy look and Leonardo stopped just for a moment after he turned on the water in the shower so it could warm up- he was about to open the buttons of his shirt when Ezio leaned against the doorframe. Blue eyes met brown ones, but then Leo took up his task of undressing again and there was just the ghost of an amused spark in his eyes.

"Salai." Leonardo then said and suddenly there was a beast inside his chest that lifted his head curious and roared. Salai. He hated that name right from the start. Of course, he had the questionable pleasure of meeting that redheaded imp a few years ago. He didn’t like the guy right from the start even though he really tried. After all, he didn’t like Malik when he first met him also and then this guy got shot two times for him. It was different with Salai. As long as Leonardo and he were friends he had to listen to story after story about this man who lied to Leonardo, who cheated on him and who used him and yet this intelligent blonde idiot would always go back to Salai – or to be correct would let him back in his life again and again. He clicked his tongue in disapproval. Ezio was tired of this shit. He was tired of hearing those things. His best friend deserved better than this little ginger devil.

"What did he do this time?" _What hasn’t he done already?_

"A friend of mine called me right after I arrived at the hotel. He told me about how he caught Salai with another man in my house when he got there to water the plants. Obviously, the little devil lives a good life with my money when I am not around." Obviously, that friend had to be Malik because Leonardo had no other friends who would be so conscientious when it comes to someone else's house plants. Leonardo spoke like it was nothing special or surprising to hear something like that and maybe it wasn’t.

"But that’s not the reason why you cried." Ezio replied matter-of-factly. Leonardo wasn’t the type of guy who cried about a broken heart or because he was being cheated on. Ezio on the other hand, was very much the type of guy to cry over a broken heart and he had spent more than enough nights between his brother and Malik in their bed bawling like a little child because Christina Vespucci and her stupid Manfredo. _Manfredo_ , what a ridiculous name!

"This friend of mine" - _Fucking Malik, just say it already! –_ "also told me that Salai poured by _mistake_ my best red wine over one of my newest paintings."

Yes, that was more likely to be the reason why Leonardo cried and much more likely something you could hurt an artist like him with. Ezio only clenched his jaw. He could only hope Malik kicked Salai's sorry ass. He didn’t care that the water was already steaming hot or that Leonardo was standing naked in front of him. It wasn’t like Ezio wouldn’t know the male anatomy. He had seen Malik more than one time naked when he run into the bedroom first thing in the morning without announcing his approach (there were images in his head he would probably never forget in his entire life after they stayed there for the entirety of eight years and there were poses in his head he hadn’t even thought his brother capable of doing).

"Leonardo I really don't understand you!" Ezio moaned and gesturing wildly with his hands like the Italian he was, while Leonardo just put his clothes neatly folded to the side and got into the shower like this situation was as normal as having breakfast together. "Why do you let this imp coming back into your life over and over again? Why do you let yourself being treated like this? Don’t say you love him because you don’t, Leonardo. This isn’t love. Salai is using you with no shame at all and you know this! He steals from you, he cheats on you and now he destroys your work – probably because he wasn’t in the picture, was he?" Leonardo chuckled. "I won't do something like that to you even in my wildest dreams! Please, I beg of you old friend, draw the line and go search for someone else who would be better for you. I can't bear seeing you like this anymore!"

Perhaps it was the stress of those last days and because he was still hurt by the encounter with his sister that he said all those things to his friend which couldn’t be more inept. They were friends and he shouldn't be concerned like this by his friend's love life, but he was. It did concern him. Leonardo was important to him and there were more than enough men on this planet that could make him much happier than this Salai. _He_ could make him happier than Salai if necessary! He would worship the ground he walked on! He would pamper him and give the man all he needed and wanted because he deserved nothing less. He would never cheat on Leonardo or steal his money or gods forbid destroy his work! He would even water his stupid plants that were standing all over Leonardo's house and that he would always forget to care for!

With a deep and heavy sigh, he ruffled through his unruly hair before he let himself sink onto the toilet. He could see Leonardo's silhouette behind the milky glass of the shower cubicle and how he moved under the hot water. It wasn't the first time but it clearly was the first time that the sight of Leonardo's moving body stirred something inside him. Leonardo didn’t answer his questions and maybe this really was for the better because Ezio would probably say something stupid and embarrassing otherwise. Although it would be probably for the better if Leonardo would talk to him to distract Ezio from his new awoken feelings and thoughts and the silly things his stupid body already felt. The longer he watched Leonardo the more impressive the warm and fuzzy feeling in his gut (and lower), which he only knew from the sight of naked women, became. Ezio adored women - that was nothing new. He had always adored them, even his once beautiful mother. He adored their curves and their voices, their faced and their eyes, even their hair and the way they moved, but it always seemed like women wouldn’t adore him as much. He thought about Sofia and how she finally broke up with him during college just because it seemed he couldn’t give her what she so desired and Ezio didn’t know till this day what it was that she desired. _You're always absent, Ezio!_ She always said. _Never are your thoughts on me or our relationship! You are always so caught up in your past and never do you want to talk about it!_ At least that wasn’t true. He did talk about it. He talked about it with Leonardo a lot.

"Ezio stop staring." Again there was this soft, lovely chuckle from the cubicle and startled by that Ezio jumped from the toilet seat again and just stood in the middle of the room. He felt caught and he didn’t even know what he was about to do next.

Sometimes it really was easier to just shut up your own brain just for a tiny moment. Of course, that wasn’t exactly the best solution for his problems now, but it was the best solution for _this_ problem. So Ezio moved without thinking and before Leonardo could talk again. "You know Salai and I have a long history-" That was it. That was the last straw. Without sparing it another thought, without hesitating, he ripped open the shower's door and was at Leonardo's side just a second after this before his lips hungrily collided with the man's and before he grabbed him by his long, white, elegant neck to hold him in place. " _Salai, Salai, Salai_ \- I can't stand hearing his name anymore, Leonardo." Ezio moaned against the red and full lips of his best friend when his angry eyes met the blue ones in front of him. Leonardo seemed confused, but Ezio didn’t grant him any chance to speak when he again kissed him hungrily even though his clothes were already soaking wet from the shower.

* * *

Silence ruled over the room and outside the sun already set behind the roofs of the houses of Florence. "So … how was the meeting with your family, Amore Mio?" Leonardo was the only thing in this room that was important for Ezio to look at, this lean figure that lay beside him in the big bed. It was like he saw Leonardo for the first time. It was the first time he really saw the soft curve of his hips when he way lying on his side like this and like he saw his porcelain white skin for the very first time. There was no way how a man couldn’t want to kiss that skin. Ezio could easily spend hours and hours counting every little freckle in that beautiful face and he didn’t even bother blaming the post-orgasmic bliss for his thoughts. He was in love. He was hit by little chubby Armor with the full force of a truck. He knew that feeling well. He once had written a sonnet about Sofia after having sex with her for the first time.

"Not so good. It turned out my father died eight years ago and my beloved sister slammed the door in my face." Ezio mumbled tiredly and placed his large hand on Leonardo's waist to pet the soft and tender skin there. And here they were lying now, fully naked in this huge bed. Ezio's wet clothes were thrown into the sink at some point and the last hours were a blur of emotions, colors, sounds, touches and heat. He didn’t even know if his head was still on his shoulders and he didn’t know which way was up, he was utterly confused and the only constant was this man at his side and who appeared to be lost in watching him and his face just as much as Ezio was. It would take a while until Ezio would finally understand that he had slept with his best friend (more than once), but for now, he didn’t regret a thing. No, quite the contrary.

Leonardo's hand got lost on its way to his cheek and his finger brushed over the slight stubble of Ezio's jaw and chin. He seemed to like the feeling of his not so soft skin. Oh dear god had his hands always been so beautiful?! Ezio couldn’t help but to grab his wandering hand to bring it to his lips and kiss the tips of his beautiful, long, thin fingers. It didn’t seem to be weird or strange that he was lying in bed with Leonardo and kissing his fingers. It felt normal. _This is insane. It must be because of all the stress_ , he thought amused.

"I am terribly sorry to hear that, Ezio." Leonardo sighed.

If he would be in Leonardo's place he would say there was no more astonishing picture to paint than this man who was lying entangled in the white bed sheets like this in this dim light that let his alabaster skin shimmer just a bit.

"You know that we need to talk about this, right Ezio?" Leonardo smirked and there was again that playful sparkle in his bright blue eyes.

"I don’t think so." Ezio grinned with a low purr in his voice. "I think we both know pretty well what we did, but I can revive your memories again if you so desire."

"That’s not what I meant, _idiota_." Leonardo laughed and Ezio devoured that beautiful sound to save it deep in his heart. "I mean what do you think we should do with this? I really don’t have a problem with having casual sex with my best friend, but I would like it more to not lose my heterosexual best friend because of this."

Heterosexual. Well, that hit home. Ezio really never questions his own sexuality. He loved women, that was who he was and always had been, but on the same instant he wouldn’t want to miss Leonardo in his life – not even for a second. And if he was honest with himself no woman could give him what Leonardo just showed him and there was no way of comparing the sex with Leonardo to the sex with all the women he already had in his bed. "I'm afraid I must tell you, that I am not as straight as I thought, old friend." He chuckled softly and it was weird how easy it came over his lips. It seemed he wasn’t straight, but he wasn’t gay either. Maybe he was just gay for Leonardo. "But when it helps you, let's look at this as an experiment. You like experiments, don’t you?"

"Well, well an experiment. What do you think the possible outcome of that experiment could be?"

"Well, we will either end up as a couple and live happily ever after or we need to understand that we aren’t meant to be together."

"You seem to be quite relaxed with these new circumstances."

"Why not? Life is way too short to overthink stuff like this. All you need to do is promise me that we won't be like Malik or Altaїr." Again a small laugh of the teacher by his side.

"I think we could arrange that."

They were quite different than Altaїr and Malik which always would behave like cats and dogs and spent their time rather annoying each other than cuddling or whispering sweet nothings into each other's ears. Thinking back to their wedding … Well. It was a miracle that they even managed to arrive at the altar together and even greater the miracle that they made it to saying  _I do_ without unnecessary commentary. But on the other hand – no matter how much they liked to fight and bicker just as much they could be very much in love and cute with each other when they thought themselves to be alone.

"Ready for the next round?" Ezio purred again and wiggled his brows, but Leonardo moaned and then laughed.

"Dio Mio, Ezio! I don’t think I can keep up with a futile young man like you anymore." But there was already Leonardo's hand in his neck to pull the younger male against him, just when the phone beside their bed rang. This time, it was Ezio who moaned but surely not out of pleasure and lust but more because there really was no greater turn down than a ringing phone.

Very skilled Leonardo rolled over him to grab the phone and answer the call. The conversation was short-lived while Ezio used their newly acquired position to plant a few sloppy and soft kisses on Leonardo's throat, but when the man hung up there was again that playful smirk. "What did you do this time, Ezio? I've left you alone in Florence not even for an hour and there are already women following you around."

Ezio really liked to hear something like jealousy in Leonardo's voice, but there was only amusement. What a pity. There was nothing left for Ezio then furrowing his brows a little and wrapping his arms tightly around Leo's back. "You're talking in riddles."

"That was the receptionist calling. A young woman waits at the bar for you." Again with that smirk in his eyes! He took a moment until he finally let go of Leonardo before he retreated from their bed. Whoever it was that waited for him down there, maybe he should hurry a little, although he would rather stay at Leonardo's side. There was only a small thought that it could be his sister who finally wanted to talk to him. Well, it was either that or she was here to tell him to fuck off and stay away again.

He needed ten minutes after the call to get down to the lobby and then into the hotel bar and it only took him so long because he needed to find fresh clothes in his suitcase first and because Leo plastered his neck and his shoulders with sweet kisses all the time. How did he survive all the time without those sweet kisses? How should he ever survive without them? Hell, this time, it really hit him way harder than before (even though Altaїr would say different).

To his surprise, it really was Claudia who waited for him. In the dim light of the bar, she was the prettiest woman around the way she sat on the barstool with crossed legs and sipped at her red wine. The bartender seemed to try desperately to flirt with her, but all he got of the woman was a small smirk every now and then. Ezio approached her without caution and sat down by her side. He really had learned his lesson when it came to alcohol and so he refrained from ordering something to drink and just stole the peanuts from under his sister's nose.

"You look exactly like him, so I knew immediately who you were." Claudia began abruptly not a second after he had taken his seat next to her, but she didn’t even look at him. She appeared to be calm and collected just like she was when they first met. "Father told us – us children – about you ten years ago after an ugly fight with our mother. He said he _might_ have left behind a child in the US."

Ezio decided it would be better to just keep his silence, but it seemed to be a good sign that his sister – his half-sister – followed his invitation to the hotel to sort out all of this. He didn’t know her, but he knew that she couldn’t be cold as ice. She hid her emotions well this afternoon at the Palazzo, but he knew it couldn’t be easy for her to be confronted with a new brother as well.

"Back then I didn’t understand right away what he meant, but when I understood I hated him. The affair was something between my parents and not my concern, but I have always known my father as a big man, as a great man. He was good-hearted and caring and he loved his children more than anything else in the world. This man, who well knowingly left his illegitimate child behind in another country before it was even born to flee from the shame and the responsibility, was not my father."

Ezio cleared his throat to get the lump out of it. "Dare I ask what this fight between your parents was about?"

"I believe they fought because my father expressed the wish to travel to the US. It seemed like he wanted to see what has become of his child after fifteen years. Out mother wasn’t exactly thrilled and she won't let him because it was her who forced our father to leave the US after learning about his affair and the pregnancy. In the beginning, I really thought I would understand my mother's feelings and that I would’ve acted just like her if I was in her shoes, but now I am not so sure anymore. My father was a man who loved having his children close and even if he never said something or showed it, I am certain that he was devastated by the vague knowledge of your existence and that he couldn’t be with you."

"Did you ever talk about this with him?"

Claudia shook her beautiful head and the soft waves of her hair tangled around her face. "No. shortly after that revelation I followed my brother Federico's example and went to a boarding school. I couldn’t stand my father's presence for the longest time. Back then I was just angry and I resented him for hurting my mother in such fashion and for being a cheater who even had an illegitimate child with some woman in another country. My family is part of a much-disclosed circle of the high society of Italy. We have a reputation to hold upright and our parents always threatened us children that we needed to marry immediately if we should ever father or mother an illegitimate child. I was ashamed of my father and for his wish to go search for you instead of acting like you didn’t exist. So I spent the last years of my father's life in a boarding school in Swiss and then the accident happened. Now I really regret how I behaved and hurt my father, but now it is too late and I just have mother left and she doesn't speak much anymore – god forbid about that topic."

"What about your brother's? Couldn’t you talk about this with them?" Maybe it wasn’t his right to ask that questions. He could understand her resentment against Giovanni. If he had been in her place he might have acted exactly like her, but now there was no way of turning back anymore. She would never have the chance to make up with her father ever again. What a terrible feeling.

"They were in the car when the accident happened." Claudia sighed and sipped at her wine again. Again Ezio had no clue how he should feel, so he did what Desmond would do and shoved a hand full of peanuts into his face. Desmond would be proud of him. At least he could understand how _she_ felt.

"Petruccio was dead immediately just like our father when the truck hit the small car. Federico apparently wasn’t wearing a seatbelt again and so he was thrown through the windshield and died on the way to hospital. My mother said no word for months after this and changed completely. I've always known her as a strong woman but there is nothing left of this anymore. Federico meant the world to her for being her first born son. I guess his death especially broke her. But I think my father would be happy to see us sitting here now and talking like to civilized adults. Perhaps that is the reason why I wanted to come here. I can't apologize to him anymore, but I can show a little humanity to his son."

This woman was younger than Ezio – that was something he needed to remember – but her strict parenting showed in her words. She knew how to handle words and she seemed to be much smarter than her stupid American brother. Ezio couldn't help but smile just a little, even if his head was a mess of feelings. "Let's have a toast."

It was just now that Claudia finally turned her head towards him and looked at him. "You don’t have something to drink." She noticed with furrowing her brows, but Ezio only held up the small glass bowl filled with peanuts and grinned sheepishly at her. His grin was answered the very same way before Claudia raised her glass and carefully clinked it against Ezio's bowl of peanuts.


End file.
